There are many times when it is necessary to quickly stop the rotation of the rotor of a high speed electric motor, and various types of braking techniques including, inter alia, dynamic braking and friction braking are well known in the art. One example of a braking application is a magnetic tape drive. Such a drive requires rapid, controlled stopping of the drive motor, and electromagnetic friction brakes have been used with such drives. However, while the prior art brakes have been made with sufficient precision to provide the necessary smooth braking action, they have been relatively expensive to manufacture and they have had a relatively short life.
It will be appreciated by those acquainted with the data processing field, that the down-time of a computer tape drive system is extremely costly. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a braking system which is suitable for use with a tape-drive electric motor and which has a long, maintenance-free life.